Article
ID: CBB715302093

New historical records about the construction of the Arch of Ctesiphon and their impact on the history of structural engineering (2021)

unapi
Architecture Structural engineering 6th century Iraq

A piece of historical research about the construction of the ancient Arch of Taq-iKisra, part of the imperial palace of the Sasanian Empire in the city of Ctesiphon, has been carried out. The information obtained, an analysis using graphic statics, the use of a physical model with hanging chains, and an ad hoc optimization program written in MATLAB have shown that the designer of this sixth century ad arch, a Byzantine named Farghán, was aware of the effects of the uneven distribution of loads and the differential settlements of the foundations on the equilibrium shape of structures working exclusively in compression and was able to control them. This discovery predates the earliest statement about the link between the shape of the catenary and that of an arch, by Robert Hooke, by eleven centuries and makes this building relevant not only because of its historical, archaeological, and architectural importance, but also because of its importance in the history of structural engineering. The building is currently in need of restoration to stop its collapse, and an awareness of the way it was designed could be of practical use for the definition of the intervention needed.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB715302093/

Similar Citations

Article Schibille, Nadine; (2009)
Astronomical and Optical Principles in the Architecture of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (/isis/citation/CBB000831769/)

Article Thomas Boothby; (2004)
Designing American Lenticular Truss Bridges 1878-1900 (/isis/citation/CBB217290463/)

Article Emory L. Kemp; (1993)
The Introduction of Cast and Wrought Iron in Bridge Building (/isis/citation/CBB212245887/)

Article Rama Al Rabady; (2019)
Ancient masonry structures within an integrated approach: the reinforced corbelled flat roofs of Umm el-Jimal (/isis/citation/CBB533478461/)

Article Green, Melvyn; (Spring 2007)
Engineering Research for Non-Engineered Buildings (/isis/citation/CBB743917021/)

Article Robertson, Leslie E.; (Spring 2002)
Reflections on the World Trade Center (/isis/citation/CBB003032762/)

Article David A. Simmons; (1997)
"The Continuous Clatter": Practical Field Riveting (/isis/citation/CBB823853099/)

Article Chang-Xue Shu; (2021)
Unspoken Modernity: Bamboo-Reinforced Concrete, China 1901-40 (/isis/citation/CBB576212218/)

Article Emory L. Kemp; Richard K. Anderson; (1987)
The Reading-Halls Station Bridge (/isis/citation/CBB743368918/)

Article Victor Darnell; (1979)
Lenticular Bridges from East Berlin, Connecticut (/isis/citation/CBB983076125/)

Book Richard J. Byrom; (2017)
William Fairbairn the Experimental Engineer (/isis/citation/CBB452535376/)

Article Donald J. Fraser; (1995)
Introduction of American Bridge Technology into New South Wales, Australia (/isis/citation/CBB442016378/)

Article Efthymios Nicolaidis; (2020)
Platon et Hipparque ont lu la Bible: l’Hexaéméron de Jean Philopon (/isis/citation/CBB013609930/)

Article Shriram Chauthaiwale; Jayant Deopujari; Atharva Chauthaiwale; (2021)
Computing the number of perfumes that constitute the gandhārṇava and kacchapuṭa of Varāhamihira (/isis/citation/CBB655223885/)

Article R. J. Sinensky; Gregson Schachner; Richard H. Wilshusen; Brian N. Damiata; (2022)
Volcanic climate forcing, extreme cold and the Neolithic Transition in the northern US Southwest (/isis/citation/CBB658510193/)

Book Thierry (de Chartres); Caiazzo, Irene; (2015)
The Commentary on the De arithmetica of Boethius (/isis/citation/CBB935900253/)

Chapter Laurent Bricault; (2014)
Isis, Sarapis, Cyrus and John: Between Healing Gods and Thaumaturgical Saints (/isis/citation/CBB457895981/)

Article Freestone, I. C.; Ponting, M.; Hughes, M. J.; (2002)
The Origins of Byzantine Glass from Maroni Petrera, Cyprus (/isis/citation/CBB000200215/)

Article Lu, Di; (2014)
Ancient Chinese People’s Knowledge of Macrofungi during the Period from 220 to 589 (/isis/citation/CBB001202416/)

Article Salguero, C. Pierce; (2014)
“Treating Illness”: Translation of a Chapter from a Medieval Chinese Buddhist Meditation Manual by Zhiyi (538--597) (/isis/citation/CBB001450745/)

Authors & Contributors
Kemp, Emory L.
Boothby, Thomas
Caiazzo, Irene
Darnell, Victor C.
Di, Lu
Freestone, I. C.
Journals
IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology
The Bridge: Journal of the National Academy of Engineering
Almagest
Antiquity
Archaeometry
Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity
Publishers
Brepols
Railway & Canal Historical Society
Concepts
Structural engineering
Industrial archaeology
Civil engineering
Bridges
Bridges, Truss
Engineering
People
Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus
Galilei, Galileo
Philoponos, Joannes Grammaticus
Plato
Śramaṇa Zhiyi
Varahamihira
Time Periods
6th century
19th century
21st century
Ancient
20th century
20th century, early
Places
China
United States
Byzantium
Great Britain
Cyprus
Alexandria (Egypt)
Institutions
Bamboo Publishing
U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record
Berlin Iron Bridge Company
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment

Creative Commons License REST API